Stefka Kostadinova Biography

Stefka Kostadinova is a former Bulgarian athlete and the reigning world record holder in the women’s high jump. Possessed with an athletic physique, she started displaying her talent from a very young age and after training under Nikolay Petrov, who later became her husband, she easily surpassed the barrier of 2 meters in high jump, when she was a teenager. Her early international successes came in 1985, when she won the gold medals at the European Athletics Indoor Championships and the World Indoor Championships. Next, she set the world record of 2.09 m in the women’s high jump event at the 1987 World Athletic Championships, held in Rome. After these astonishing accomplishments, she participated in the Seoul Olympics but managed to add only the silver medal to her tally. The following year, she won her third World Championship in indoor track and then directed her focus towards winning the Olympic gold. However, an ill-timed injury in the leg shortly before the beginning of the 1992 Olympics prevented her from performing at her maximum potential and she finished fourth in the competition. In the 1996 Olympics, she was finally able to succeed and earn a gold medal for herself in high jump. The following year, after winning her fifth World Indoor Championship, she took retirement from athletics. A determined sportsperson and a woman of sheer commitment, she continues to be one of the most loved and respected athletes of her time